Critically Endangered
Around the World in 80 Days - Day 56
Because Hawaii is essentially the endangered animal capital of the world, I'm doing a few from there before we hit mainland USA with Phileas Fogg. Over 90% of these are found on the island of Kaua'i. They were thought to be extinct for a while, but were rediscovered in 1947. Adult birds are killed by running into power lines, with as many as 1,600 collisions per year. The birds navigate by the moon apparently, and that is a problem for the young because they are attracted by artificial light. They end up falling to the ground where they are at great risk of being preyed upon by cats and dogs. They lay one egg per season in burrows. Hurricanes put their nesting sites at risk.
You can't tell which one is my son, but this is the percussion group he's part of and the reason I was not home to paint. They got Covid tests done, and even with negative tests they wore masks and kept their distance from each other. They look very bunched up, but there are many different rows. This is just a warm-up exercise and not exciting. I would have recorded just the bass line, but it was getting dark by the time they were practicing on their own. I love the trips with my son. My other son is an extreme introvert and is more comfortable not talking. My husband is much the same but not to quite the degree as my youngest. My oldest son though, we can end up talking almost the whole 8 hours of driving. I get along very well with both my kids, and I do not try to make them be something they are not, so I am ok with the fact that my youngest doesn't enjoy talking. I really love having someone to talk with though the drive there and back. Both my kids (and my husband too of course) are interesting intelligent people. I don't get bored. Even if he's wanting to read I have books to listen to on the drive. The whole way to eastern Washington is an interesting and beautiful drive too. Still, I got home at midnight last night, so while I will tell this to publish it yesterday, I am publishing it right before I publish today's painting.